A Mother’s Day VisitMy thoughts:When Denise set the challenge for Mother’s Day, it was only natural that I write a story about Lynn Lake. Having already created the character, and having established some background, I was able to dive into some revealing dialogue.Dialogue, whether internal or external, is my favorite part to write, and I’ve written stories where the dialogue is what carries the tale.I set this story in my Soul Mates saga, just before the episode The Long Sleep. By Lynn’s thoughts at the beginning, you can tell that she knows her daughter quite well. In my storylines Virginia and her mother are very close as Ginny’s father was killed during the war.Lynn Lake is a straight shooter and doesn’t mince words Right away; she asks Ginny, “So, what is his name, dear?” And we find out that Virginia’s time has been taken up by a certain film studio executive. No surprise there. When Lynn expresses concern about Ginny not being alone, it tells the reader two things; Virginia doesn’t socialize very much and Lynn cares about her daughters well being.In the next paragraph, Lynn tells her daughter something that surprises her. Parents have a way of doing that to their children. We only learn that his first name was Jerry, and he was a US Air Force Colonel, who was killed in 1973 under, in Lynn’s opinion, very suspicious circumstances. This event happens about the same time Virginia is going through her own divorce. I set this up as an open ended issue that we may learn more about in a later story. I do that quite a bit in my work.In the after dinner conversation, Ginny tells her mother about Ed. Here I mention the flowers that Lynn sent to Tony Straker’s funeral in Absence. We also see that Virginia is made melancholy by the fact she never met her father.When Virginia leaves, her mother is thinking about one of her late husband’s fellow pilots, whose last name was Straker. She knows that he was from Boston and wonders if he is related to Ed. Of course this is another open end that I refer to in The Gift.I also refer to the pictures of Loch Ness that Ginny took in Soul Mates, when she and Ed flew to the lake on their second date. At this point in their relationship, Virginia and Ed have not yet been intimate, but I put hints in the conversation that the fires are burning and it’s only a matter of time.I’ve enjoyed writing Lynn into my stories as she has become such a fun and sensible character. And she’s not intimidated by anyone, not even General Henderson, who she calls Jim. I write her as being as being sixtyish, but someone who looks younger than she is. From a distance, it would be hard to tell her apart from her daughter. Plastic surgery? Nope. She’s just a very sensible person who has taken care of herself. This story, along with Why: From the Diary of Virginia Lake, and The Gift really help bring Virginia’s character to life.I hope everyone enjoyed A Mother’s Day Visit.Matt